Sunday, June 16, 2013

New Plasma Device Considered The Holy Grail Of Energy Generation And Storage

Scientists at the University
of Missouri have devised
a new way to create and control plasma that could transform American energy
generation and storage. Randy Curry, professor of electrical and computer
engineering at the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering, and his
team developed a device that launches a ring of plasma at distances of up to
two feet. Although the plasma reaches a temperature hotter than the surface of
the sun, it doesn’t emit radiation and is completely safe in proximity to humans.

While most of us are familiar with three states of matter –
liquid, gas and solid – there is also a fourth state known as plasma, which
includes things such as fire and lightning. Life on Earth depends on the energy
emitted by plasma produced during fusion reactions within the sun. The secret to Curry’s success was developing a way to make
plasma form its own self-magnetic field, which holds it together as it travels
through the air.

“Launching plasma in open air is the ‘Holy Grail’ in the
field of physics,” said Curry. “Creating plasma in a vacuum tube surrounded by powerful
electromagnets is no big deal; dozens of labs can do that. Our innovation
allows the plasma to hold itself together while it travels through regular air
without any need for containment. The plasma device could also be enlarged to handle much
larger amounts of energy," he said.

For the current work, Curry and his team used older
technologies to build their prototype of a plasma-generating machine. But a
considerably smaller device using newer, miniaturized parts could also be built
within three to five years with sufficient funding, Curry said. “We have a world-class team at MU’s Center for Physical
& Power Electronics, but that team will evaporate without funding.”